Vettel seize pole as Ferrari lock out front row, Hamilton only 4th

Championship leader Sebastian Vettel snatches pole position from his Ferrari team-mate Raikkonen on final the final attempt of Q3. Nearest rival Mercedes on second row with defending world champion Lewis Hamilton only fourth. Both Ferrari and Mercedes could start on soft tyres for Sunday race.

Sebastian Vettel: “I was happy with the whole lap. The car was really amazing, just kept getting better.

“I made a few mistakes on the opening lap. I was a bit beaten up by I knew that if I got a tidy lap and a little bit of margin then I could push.”

“It looks like on Kimi’s side there is more rubber so I need a good start.”

Kimi Raikkonen: “It was OK but not good enough. It’s not exactly what I wanted. We go tomorrow and see what we can do.

“We will try to improve. We need to stay out of any issues and see what it brings.”

Valtteri Bottas: “For us it was quite straightforward qualifying. We couldn’t achieve the same grip levels as Ferrari.”

The third row will be made up of the two Red Bull cars. Max Verstappen will start from the No. 5 spot and teammate Daniel Ricciardo will start in the sixth position… more to follow